Hobbit Snow
by DaydreamingTurtle
Summary: After finally being caught by Farmer Maggot, young Merry and Pippin must do chores around his home instead of playing in the snow. One-shot. Please R&R!


**Just something I came up with on a snow day. If it doesn't make sense, blame my insanity! This is my first one-shot, so don't make fun of it. **

**Oh, and another thing, this was set when Merry and Pippin were a _LOT_ younger. Say, age seven or eight. Okay, here it is.**

**-DaydreamingTurtle-**

* * *

"_Hobbit Snow"_

The first snow had fallen in the Shire, and all the hobbit children were itching to get outside. Snow was rare in this area, and it was always a special treat to be excused from a day's work to play in it. Well, that wasn't the case for two particular hobbits.

Merry and Pippin stared gloomily out the frosted window of Farmer Maggot's home. They had finally been caught, sneaking off into his barn to steal some of his winter fixings.

_Blasted dogs, _Merry cursed in his head. _They've never caught us before! _He returned to sweeping, one of the many punishments he had been assigned to.

Pippin began brushing the mantle on the fireplace (again) when he let out a huge sigh. "Merry, why are we in here, instead of playin' in the snow?" he whispered. Merry didn't answer. He only sighed.

"Is it 'cause we took the food?" he tried. Merry nodded glumly. "It's not fair!" Pippin shouted. To emphasise his point, he threw the cleaning cloth down.

All Merry did was shrug. "What're ya gonna do, Pip? We got caught. And now we're bein' punished. Simple as that." Pip whimpered.

"That's it. No more cleanin'," Pip said, his eyes flashing with determination.

He stomped out of the room, and made his way to the front door. Getting in trouble would be worth it. The snow was so pretty; so clean; so... deep! A hobbit could get lost in it. This sparked an idea.

* * *

Merry couldn't help but watch as Pippin leapt into a particularly giant snow drift. All you could see was the top of his head! Good thing he's so small. Merry would've been caught in mere seconds. He hated being one of the taller hobbit children.

The joy on Pip's face was so real that it made Merry envious. Well, why _shouldn't _he go outside? He was just as obligated as his cousin was.

_If I get into trouble, blame Pip, _he told himself. It sounded easy enough. Farmer Maggot was Who-knows-where, and no one else was round.

The front door creaked quietly. The pitter-patter of young hobbit feet was silenced by the fluffy flakes. He was free! Free of chores; free of Farmer Maggot's house; free of rules–

A strong hand gripped Merry's shoulder, not letting him go any farther. "Where are _you _going, young Meriadoc? And Peregrin! Where be _he?_"Farmer Maggot's voice boomed down onto the trapped hobbit's ears.

_If I get into trouble, blame Pip. If I get into trouble, blame Pip! If I get into trouble... _Merry's brain kept repeating. "Uh, um, y'see, Farmer Maggot; it was all Pip's fault. It– it, it," the poor hobbit was shaking by now, with fear and cold.

"Ah, Yes. Where is 'Pip'?" Farmer Maggot still had a strong grip on Merry's shoulder as he scanned the snow. A shock of brown curly hair stuck up from a quite large drift. The farmer pointed. "Aha! No use hiding now, Peregrin! Get over here now!"

The head didn't move. "Didn't you _hear_ me, Pippin?" Still no movement. Farmer Maggot looked down onto the head of captured Merry. "You. Go get him," he ordered. With that, he released his vice-grip on Merry's shoulder.

_Fool of a Took! Always getting me into trouble! _Merry cursed and grumbled. The snow drifts were very irregular, and Merry fell several times. The snow stung his feet and face.

"Pippin! The game's over! You've been caught. Now get out from... back..." Merry tried telling off Pip. The only problem was that Pip wasn't there!

It was a large clump of long brown grass. Near the drift was a deep hole and a patch of dirt, obviously where Pip had gotten the grass.

"Farmer Maggot, sir. Pippin's not here!" Merry called back. Farmer Maggot shouted something, but Merry couldn't hear it. "Get back in here, boy!" That's what the farmer was shouting.

Merry figured that much. He tried stepping in his old tracks, but they were quickly being filled with new snow.

Farmer Maggot escorted the disappointed hobbit into his home again, only to see Pippin dusting a table.

He looked up with a broad smile and said: "You'd be just _amazed_ at how much dust can collect so quickly! Why, only hours ago did I dust this same here table, and look at the mess!"

Merry couldn't help but smile. It was an old trick of Pip's. He was so good at acting innocent that even Merry believed him for a split second.

Farmer Maggot was a little distraught. The innocence of young Pip had worked on him. He looked at Pip, then at Merry, then at Pip again, and so on for a moment or so. He was too confused to be angry.

"Well, young Meriadoc, it appears that Peregrin has been here the whole time cleaning. What were _you _doin'?" Great. The anger was now placed onto him. "Well, Merry, explain yourself." Farmer Maggot crossed his arms.

"Well, y'see, Pip said that it was unfair that we had to clean all day. So he..." he stole a glance at his cousin. There was real fear in his eyes! "... said that I should sneak out to see if you was comin' and then if you were no where to be found, we'd sneak home. He'd stay in the house just in case you came back and I had not seen you. Well, you _did _find me, and thought hat the grass was Pip's head. That was my idea. Most of the plan was. I'm sorry, sir."

Merry bowed his head in mock-shame. Pip smiled, but quickly hid it when Farmer Maggot turned his way. "Crooks, have we? Trying to sneak out, were we?" Farmer Maggot's voice was getting louder. "I bet you know what I have to do now, huh!"

The hobbit children cowered. What was going to happen? They both wished that they had never stole from Farmer Maggot in the first place. Farmer Maggot moved toward the door.

"I gotta throw you out."

Merry's eyes bugged out. What? Had he heard right? "Um, s... sir?" Merry dared to ask. "I can't have crooks in my house! Go on, out with ya!" He shooed them out in such a hurry that the cousins almost forgot what had just happened.

Merry and Pippin looked at each other and laughed a long, hard laugh. No-one would believe them! They made their way towards the road when Pippin stopped.

He pointed toward the barn. "Why not we make one last stop?" he asked. With that, he started sprinting. Merry followed. What else would he have done?

* * *

Farmer Maggot stepped out onto his small stoop to watch the hobbits. Two of his dogs were on leashes, with the handles in his hand. They were pulling and tugging to be let go. "Patience, guys patience."

He waited no longer that two minutes when he saw Merry and Pip's small body running towards his food barn. And they thought they were being sneaky!

Farmer Maggot chuckled to himself. He waited until he saw them slip into the barn, then let the dog leashes go. The dogs would catch up in no time.

He turned to go back into the house, but stopped short only to see the hobbits crash into the deep snow trying to hide from the dogs. Wasn't that what they wanted? To be in the snow? By now, the farmer was laughing.

_Silly hobbits, _he thought. _Won't they ever learn? _

* * *

_The End_

**Well, what did you think? I thought that it was quite cute! But that's just my opinion. Um,** **please review.** **I am open to your opinions, but if you _do _flame me, please tell me why. **

**Okay, that is all. I hope you enjoyed it. Happy snow days! Navaer.**

**-DaydreamingTurtle-**


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